


You're Okay

by TeamAroPickle



Category: Marvel, The Avengers (Marvel) - All Media Types, The Incredible Hulk - All Media Types
Genre: Comfort, F/M, Romance, Understanding, heal
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-01-31
Updated: 2016-01-31
Packaged: 2018-05-17 09:04:07
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 10
Words: 7,014
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5863051
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TeamAroPickle/pseuds/TeamAroPickle
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Magnea Williams or Raven is given the task of gathering Bruce Banner for the Avengers team over the course of a month in the attempt of easing him into it. But what she didn't expect is that she would fall in love with the barely contained doctor. (Bruce/OC)</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> This was written about a million years ago. I still plan on continuing it, but this was sitting on my computer and I wanted it to be on the web here so I decided to post. This was written by a much younger me so, if it is terribly bad - that is why. Any new chapters would be better.

“Williams!” Fury snapped.

“Yeah…?” I yelled from the ships library not looking up from my book.

“I have an assignment for you…you have to get ‘the big guy’” Fury replied cocking his head to the side with a very sarcastic grin on his scarred up face.

_Oh God, not Stark. Not to say he isn’t funny and a pretty cool guy all around but I do not want to be stuck with the job of recruiting him. He wouldn’t be the most cooperative...I need to get out of this…_

“Fury, I really don’t think I'm the one to get Stark. I mean I'm 18. Yes, I might be an agent here but he’s a genius billionaire. What makes you think he would listen to me?”

The room was silent as Nick just looked at me not moving at all. I had a feeling I was missing something. Nick is never silent and unmoving- he's a mover and doer.

Nick finally broke the silence.

“For the record, you are going to be 19 in two weeks. And,…it isn’t Stark I'm talking about.” 

I paused. _What did he mean ‘the big guy’ wasn’t Stark?...Oh…_

I lifted my hands up and shook my head, “No, no, no I am not gathering him. And I’ll tell you why. First of all, he's all the way in India. Second, he turns into a huge green wrecking ball when he gets upset. How in the world is a guy who is perfectly happy and in control working as a doctor and helping people _not_ going to get angry about having to come back to _this?_ ” I asked gesturing to the high-tech ship around us.

“Not my problem. _Yours_. Besides I wouldn’t have given this assignment to you if you weren’t equipped with the power to handle it. You can control the violet emotions of those around you. To me, you plus Dr. Banner equals perfect.”

And with that he left. He just left.

 _Great…this should be sort of fun…I've never been to India before._ I thought sarcastically.


	2. Chapter 2

I hadn’t noticed the manila folder that Fury had placed on the small reading table next to me until about 10 minutes after his departure.

It didn’t have any information on the front of the folder except for the small word: Raven.

Ever since I had become an agent all those years ago I had loved the code name that Shield had assigned me. It was after all my favorite bird.

But enough of that. Back to the folder.

I picked up the dainty thing, gauging its weight with my wrist. It wasn’t a very thick stack of papers, Thank God.

Inside was a map, directions, a handful of pictures of India, a really fuzzy shot of the Doctor, a few photos of the Hulk, and a list of my duties I was to preform. Interested I looked at the list. _I thought my only assignment was to recruit Dr. Banner…_

It was. What the list told me was that I wasn’t going to be in India for just a day or even just a night. I was going to be there a month. My job was to become relatively friendly acquaintances with him but more importantly my job was to gain his trust so that I could bring him back to base and hand him over.

I wasn’t too comfortable with this. Not just because it was dangerous for me but also because it was wrong. I had no idea if this Dr. Banner was a nice man or not but I didn’t like the thought of gaining someone’s trust just to stab them in the back because I had orders.

But that was just the problem. I did have orders. And shield wasn’t too kind to those who said no to orders. I was going to be okay, I just couldn’t get emotional in this I just had to act like I was.

Come ‘on Mag, suck it up. It’s not like your going to have to kiss him or anything.


	3. Chapter 3

I wasn’t about to fight with Fury about the length of my mission. But that didn’t mean I had to be happy about it.

I understood that it was imperative that we handle Mr. Banner with extreme care but… a _month_. 

I _really_ hope this guy isn’t a jerk.

His file said that that he hadn’t had an incident in two years but that wasn’t very reassuring. I wasn’t completely set on how to go about approaching him. Was I going to approach him the minute I tracked him down? Or was I going to study him first? These were just a few of the questions that I would have to answer on the plane ride.

The list said that the jet was going to take off in an hour- so I had to shag some ass.

Running off to my room I packed my bags and pulled my purple hair into a bun. I had always been made fun of for my choice in hair color but I hated my natural look. Also, here at Shield it was what gained me my code name. As I grew older I made sure to dye it dark with a blue tinge to make I look like raven feathers. Over the years I've become pretty good at it.

Packing for a month was much harder than I had anticipated. I had to keep in mind the state of where I was headed and that Shield wasn’t supplying anything special for me in terms of living accommodations. Mostly my bags were filled with books, and the stacks of files, on Dr. Banner, I had stolen from the cabinets. Throwing on some jeans and a hoodie I was ready to roll.

45 minutes later I was walking out the airtight door with an oxygen mask on, so I could breathe at our high altitude, and towards our hover jet thingy.

These things always scared the crap out of me. I felt like they went to fast and moved side to side too much. Not to mention the huge spinning death wheels that acted as engines. You know, the ones that go a million miles an hour and can turn you into ground beef in two seconds.

On the deck, Fury was there smirking, as usual, and gesturing me onto the plane. I accepted his courtesy and walked in, sitting down on the horizontal seats on both sides of the ship. Fury followed but sat opposite me, leaning forward in an informative stance.

I raised an eyebrow at him but he just chuckled and didn’t talk until we took off into the sky and the roar of the engines died down.

“I'm assuming you read the files right?” he said

“Um…no. You gave me less than an hour to pack and then get here I really don’t see how I cou-“

“Okay. I get it ‘ya didn’t read the files. But you do know about Bruce’s little problem and all those kinds of details, right?

I thought about that for a moment. Actually I _didn’t_. Not Really. I mean I know he turned into the Hulk but I didn’t exactly know how far someone would have to push him to get him to that point. That was probably important…

Fury, sensing my confusion went on exasperatedly, “Maybe giving you such short notice was a bad idea…”

I gave him a “no duh” kind of look.

“Well, Mr.Banner turns into The Hulk when he gets into a stressful kind of environment. Anger is what really sets it off. It doesn’t take too much but it wont be anything you can’t handle with your power.”

That was the first thing I've heard today that gave me relief. At least I knew if he became angry I could calm him down.

_Well, maybe this wasn’t going to be as life threatening as I thought…_


	4. Chapter 4

For the entire ride to India, Fury clued me in a little. He gave me details, stories, and tips. He also explained why there were no good shots of the doctor anywhere in my files. 

It was because most of the time field agents only focused on The Hulk, not him. I thought that was exceptionally unfair. His work in gamma radiation is legendary and not just because of what happened to him as a result of his research.

Fury apologized to me about not being able to find a good photo of the un-Hulked doctor from our satellite cameras. He said that in India I wasn't going to find much technology, which made it near impossible to track him, but somehow, Shield had managed it.

It was a long flight but it went by quickly with all the information Fury was throwing at me.

The more he talked the more interested I became in this Mr. Banner. All the "super-hero’s" of my time had their tales- but in a way...all of them were selfish. Captain America _wanted_ to be in the army, so he volunteered for a dangerous procedure. Thor was a demi-god so he was naturally full of himself most of the time, and Iron Man was just an overly arrogant, but brilliant, Tony Stark in a metal suit- and this suit was just as shiny and gloating as his ego.

But this doctor was different. He did just as his title implied- he helped people. An experiment that was meant for advancing the human race went wrong and Dr. Banner risked his life to save another and paid the ultimate price. 

He spent time perfecting his rage and once he thought that, for the most part, he was in control, he set out to care for people.

And so he did.

Now here I was going to India to track him down and tear him from what kept him stress-free. Just to bring him here. Into a lab again. 

Hopefully the negotiating went smoothly otherwise I would have to use some...persuasion.

I never liked using my power on anyone, which annoyed Fury and Coulson to no end. It didn't feel like it was natural. People should be able to express themselves as fully as they see fit.

But if these expressions were threatening my life or someone else's I would have no choice...


	5. Chapter 5

Our jet landed smoothly in an open field. From inside I could see a Shield vehicle that would take me to my new temporary home.

Once we were set to exit the plane I gathered my things and adjusted my travel-creased clothes, stepping out to meet the dried out grass with my feet.

The vehicle that Shield sent to drive me to my new home was one of their standards- an Acura.

Coulson was there- as always, and he looked just as oddly happy as he usually did.

Fury walked behind me as I approached Coulson and I could tell by just the sound of his breathing all he wanted to do was get me out of his hands and get himself back on the ship. Coulson acknowledged Fury and went on to ask if I knew all of the basic information on Banner- so there was no repeats during the half hour ride in the car to the village.

I couldn’t imagine there was anything more I should know-or at least I hoped not, there was only so much my frazzled brain handle.

I wasn’t really paying attention anymore so you can imagine my surprise when I heard the deafening whirl of the engine blades and felt my hair fly forward.

I turned around and stuttered, looking up towards the retreating jet.

“Where’s Fury?” I asked Coulson

He gave me a strange look through his sunglasses, “He’s up there…” he said- his eyes following the path of the jet.

“Oh, well, good-bye to you too Nick.” I said sarcastically. 

Coulson did his version of a chuckle, but then went back to business as usual as he looked down at his wristwatch.

“Its getting late, we need you in your temporary living space before dark-then you can start with the recruiting process. 

~~~~~~~~~~IN THE CAR- HALF WAY TO KOLKATA~~~~~~~~~~

“So…is there anything else I should know about him?”

“Fury’s information that he had shared with you during the flight is sufficient.”

In Coulson’s eyes maybe, but not to me. There was one more question that these agents didn’t care about but it was this one question that I kept turning over in my mind over and over again…

“Is he a nice person? Like is he an ass or is he a decent individual?” I asked Phil

“That’s not really important to your mission.”

“Well, no, its not but it would be nice to know. I mean I'm going to be spending a month talking to this guy.”

Coulson didn't say anything for a while and I started to think that he would never answer me. It took a few minutes of silence until finally Coulson moved his mouth.

"I've only met him once and it was briefly. He was a meek and slightly humble man. Let's just say he's equally as brave as the others but he's the exact opposite in terms of arrogance."

Well that was good news...

I thought about saying something back but I didn't quite know what that would be.

I couldn't say I wasn't happy about him a pretty ok guy- I was ecstatic. The news of not having to deal with a “Stark Clone” for a month was nice.

But now I was worried again. What if I really did become friends with him? Could I really betray my friend?


	6. Chapter 6

The rest of the trip was sort of blurry but I know for a fact Coulson had stayed quiet for the entirety of the ride.

The one thing I noticed as we drove was the increasing heat despite the lowering sun. It was a sticky heat, the kind that made your clothes cling and your hair and lips stick. I wasn’t sure, regardless of how bad all those previous things sounded, if I minded this weather. I wasn’t accustomed to it, which made the feeling a bit alien but never the less- I wasn’t miserable.

In a matter of minutes we were at a small, tiny hut- barely large enough to be an outhouse.

“What is this?” I asked as I turned towards Phil 

“Your temporary living environment.” He said flatly

“I refuse my mission if I'm going to be forced to live in this thing for a month. It’s tiny!”

Coulson wordless walked forward, forcing me to step back, and entered the small structure. Inside there were small piles of wood and a few scattered tools.

I had followed closely, up until now, as I was not going to fit in there _with_ Coulson, so when he reached forward for some unseen object my confusion grew. 

Apparently it was a button he had reached for.

The floor moved down and stairs emerged all fancy, high-tech and modern.

Now I felt stupid. Why did it never occur to me that if Shield could have a giant floating fortress in the sky- they could probably convert a tiny outhouse and the earth beneath it into a semi-suitable living space.

When Coulson gestured me in before him I shut my hanging jaw and stepped down the stairs. While I went down I noticed there were no other sounds- not even Coulson’s shoes following me.

I turned to see if he was coming and saw him staring down at me from ground level.

“Good luck on your mission, keep him calm, gain his trust, and don’t get personal."

And with that he was gone, taking the first step with him- closing off the space once more.

I huffed; tired of the drama and pretending on my part- it got really exhausting acting like everything was fine around the agents. I couldn’t be the person that I had been before I was recruited and I couldn’t be the person that I was most comfortable being.

Actually, most of the time I was sort of shy- not to a “shuddering lamb” degree but I certainly was not as fearless and bold as I had to act in front of Fury or Coulson. That was all for Shield but my month spent here would be different. Dr. Banner wasn’t some field agent working for an intelligence agency, I might not know him yet but I certainly didn’t want to make another contact using the fake mask I usually did.

A few minutes later, I figured since I had an entire month here a half hour of sleep couldn’t hurt…

~~~~~~~~~~HALF- HOUR OF SLEEP LATER~~~~~~~~~ 

I woke up groggy and fuzzy-visioned, stumbling around the white room trying to take everything in. The space Shield had arranged for me was very high-tech and it made me feel guilty because I couldn’t help have my mind wonder off to images of starving impoverished Indian families who had just as much as the tiny little outhouse that served as a decoy to this place.

About an hour of pacing, planning, trying to get a satellite image of Dr. Banner and his whereabouts on the computer, and unpacking my things into the drawers Shield had supplied I was starting to become more than restless.

I figured the nightlife around here was pretty busy so getting out of the brightly lit cave might be good for my thoughts.

Pressing the small red button on a nearby wall, I watched the top stairs unfold again and I walked out.

The night breeze had gotten cooler as the night drew later and it felt great on the skin. From my little “decoy hut” I could see the lights of the town and I could hear the faint murmur of the city-life voices.

It only took me about five short minutes to reach the nearest dirt path that led to the small town and as I walked I could hear more noises then just the general buzz.

Two distinct voices, followed by some grunting, like you would hear during a fight, could be made out. It was obvious they were coming from a nearby alley and I wasn’t far.

Usually I wouldn’t care but one of these voices was speaking English-which was a rarity in this part of the world. But that still wasn’t the reason for my concern. It was that Shield had told me that Banner was the one of the only people in the village that could speak English since he was in born in Ohio.

With this realization I ran towards the struggle, not able to believe my luck of finding him so quickly, but also panicking because of the damage I knew he could inflict if this got out of hand.

When I reached the mouth of the alley I stopped and hid behind a nearby building to get a better view of the fight.

Below a dim light I could see a very nervous, almost afraid, looking man holding his palms out. In front of him was a small Indian man who was holding a knife. I was assuming the man with his palms up was Dr. Banner.

I knew I should probably intervene but the risk of being stabbed by the Indian man was too high and my death might also trigger the Hulk’s anger. If that were to take place the town would be leveled, the media would come, the recruiting mission would be ruined, and the doctor would be left feeling immense guilt.

No, I think staying over in my corner was the plan- for now. 

I didn’t now how long to wait but I figured if I listened closely enough I would find my answer. Since I was lucky enough to know a little of the local language finding the source of their argument would go smoothly. 

~~~TO MAGNEA THIS WOULD HAVE BEEN A DIFFERENT LANGUAGE~~~

“Put down the knife…” Dr. Banner said

“Give me the money!” the small Indian man screamed back

I could tell Banner was trying to remain calm but the Hulk didn’t like to be threatened and he fighting for control.

“Just put the knife down and I will reach for my wallet. But…if you use that knife…well that might not work out for…both of us…”

“Give me the money!” the Indian man cried again, obviously not caring about the doctors’ explanation

Banner was about to say something more when suddenly the Indian had had enough and lunged forward with the knife tearing open a hole in Dr. Banner’s jacket by his shoulder.

I gasped and the Indian man looked in my direction, seeing me in the corner. The doctor was about to look to when he started breathing very heavily and groaning in pain. His hands were curled into fists and his chest was flexing in agony. I took this as my chance to leap out before the Hulk made a big mess of things.

While I ran forward the Indian man tensed and aimed his knife towards me but I reached in to my pocket and pulled out a wad of cash that I was going to spend on some food in the market, throwing it towards him.

While killing a person might get you money too I suppose it was always easier to have a clean and quiet transaction- and that’s exactly what the Indian man was thinking. He reached down towards the ground and picked up the cash, stumbling back out the mouth of the alley.

The still struggling doctor, who was up against the wall, leaned forward to grab the Indian man as soon as he passed him but I stepped forward quickly and yelled “Go!” to the Indian man and placed a hand on Banners shoulder, trying to steady him.

I hadn’t even thought to use my power yet, for some unknown reason, and when I faced forward towards the doctor I still couldn’t bring myself to use it.

It hadn’t taken but a minute for his greening skin to turn back to a normal flesh tone and his eyes to morph back to his natural brown color. As soon as his struggling stopped a look of shock crossed his features and he looked down at me. I still wasn’t clear on what had made him calm down- because it wasn’t my power- but right now I didn’t care. As long as the town and I were safe, everything was fine.

And as much as I hated to admit it, looking at his face, I knew, more than ever, that it wasn’t his fault he was like this and this confrontation tonight showed me that he didn’t want to hurt anybody but he wasn’t always in control.

His face held the subtle scars of pain and torment and I knew now that I wanted to learn of those torments as a friend and offer comfort.

Great, I had promised not to let this get personal and look at me. Now I wanted to know everything…


	7. Chapter 7

I pushed myself away from him and off the wall, staring at him.

His clothes were torn in a few places where they hadn't been only seconds before. The tears in the woven fabric were stress tears-formed by pulling and stretching. 

We stood there like that for some time, looking at each other, wondering what had happened only moments before. He was the first one to speak...

"What did you to me?" he asked un-accusingly, still in the same language he had with the Indian man. He stood at an angle, his head craned sideways towards me. I could tell from the corner of his eye he was looking at his hands.

"Nothing...well nothing intentional at least..." I replied in English.

His shock continued, "You...speak-"

"English? Yes. Didn't you hear me tell that man to get out of here?"

He looked down again, "I was a bit preoccupied..."

"Right" I whispered

He looked up quickly- back at my face. He looked very shaken with his silvery/black hair tousled and his brown eyes wide. 

"So...I suppose you...saw the...." he paused making a 'go on' motion with his hands.

"The umm..."

"Other guy?" he smiled

"Yeah." I smiled and let out a short laugh

It was good to get away from the heavy but that didn't last long as we lapsed into silence again. Both our eyes on the ground- although I could feel his eyes wander up towards me at times. But when I checked, his gaze immediately returned to its spot on the floor.

"If you saw...then why are you not screaming?"

I couldn't tell him here in this alley. I couldn't tell him now. I wasn't ready. This was only my first day here and I had already met him, preformed some weird unexplained miracle to calm him down, and now I was in the position to tell him about he mission.

But I wasn't. Not yet. I had a lot of time here and having him Hulking out in the alley again, tonight, wasn't a very good plan of action.

"I guess I was prepared. So to speak..."

"Uh"

I could tell he wanted to say more but just couldn't find the words.

I was about explain when a couple of drunk bar-goers passed by the mouth of the alley and it was apparent that now and here wasn't the place for conversation.

Mr. Banner had the same thoughts evidently because he looked the passing people and stepped towards me.

"Come here." he said and took hold of my hand-his eyes still on the mouth of the alleyway. 

I gasped and he realized his mistake.

"Sorry..." he exclaimed, his eyes landing anywhere but on me.

He took in a breath and said something I didn't catch, taking off in the opposite direction expecting me to follow.

But I didn't follow at first; I was too busy weighing my options. First of all, I still don't know what kind of man this Dr.Banner really was and second of all, I still don't know what that electrical feeling that affected me and calmed him down was. 

I later realized I had been standing there- unmoving for at least three minutes when I felt the warmth of another person near me. I flinched and looked up- hoping it wasn't another knife wielding drunk. It wasn't.

"Are you coming? I mean... I can understand if you don't feel comfortable. But believe me... I, I'm not going to hurt you. Although it you stay in this alley I can't promise someone else won't."

I shouldn't have believed him- just because you say you won't do something doesn't mean you won't.

But regardless I nodded up at him as a sign of my compliance.

He walked out in front of me, every once and awhile risking a look behind, right at me. I wish I knew what he was thinking as we walked. I suppose it was the same thing I was- 'can I trust you?'

I didn't have that answer to that question but what comforted me was that he didn't have that answer either-yet.

I tried to think that SHIELD wouldn't have put me in a civil mission where I would be dealing with a criminal, and immoral man- like a rapist.

At least I hoped not.

My chest tightened.

During our journey to where ever we were going, the small fairy lights throughout the city guided our way. It was easy to navigate the paths with those soft lights and it gave you a sense of safety.

A sense I desperately needed right about now.

As we walked I was glad we weren't in deep, meaningful conversation because it wouldn't have done any good. The low murmur I had heard when I first arrived had now escalated to a high-pitched buzz filled with laughter and sales-pitches from the local merchants.

It wasn't soon after our city walk that we made a sudden turn across the street and down a small path beside a cement building covered in paint and paper posters all written in their native tongue.

I started to breathe heavy- were we going to his apartment?

I didn't exactly feel all right with that but I'm sure thought nothing of it.

I suppose I just had to go along with it. I had always been good with my Self-Defense training with SHIELD...I just hope I didn't need to use it.


	8. Chapter 8

The cement building that apparently was home to his apartment was realitivly clean compared to the outside.

It was dimly lit but it wasn’t uncomfortable. As we walked I looked at everything from the dull mint green carpet to the back of Dr. Banner’s head.

Dr. Banner was a fairly tall man, much taller then I but I had always been tiny, and his shoulders were broad and slightly muscular. All in all I could sum up his build as stocky.

The clothing he was wearing was a loose fitting suit that reminded me of soft burlap, and a peachy, orange dress shirt that’s tails could be seen peaking out from underneath the coat.

I was about to go on with my visual analysis when he suddenly stopped at a door and turned towards it. He looked up at me with a sideways glance, unsure if he should proceed.

This was the tenth time he had done that tonight. Its like he couldn’t stop studying me. Was he that worried about what I have to say or what I was going to do? Or was he afraid of what he would do? 

From his pocket he procured a small set of keys. From the set he picked a glossy brass one and placed it in the lock, undoing it with a click.

Once he unlocked the door he held it open and sheepishly smiled and signaled to his raised arm.

Hesitantly I ducked under his arm and into his home. His space was lit with a few strung out lamps and it was decorated with science papers that were taped and pinned to the walls. There was a red, threadbare couch and an armchair that matched it in both condition and style. To center it all was a shabby, vintage coffee table that, from a distance, I could see a billion or more coffee cup rings staining its top.

The carpet was just a continuation of the dull mint green that I found outside in the hall until you arrived at the kitchen, which was tiled up in a hideous pink and blue ceramic.

I love it. 

I didn’t care if the tile was atrocious, or if the carpet was dingy, or if the couches were on their way to the grave, I was envious.

I was stuck at a government furnished lab-like tomb that had no personality. This had character and even though I had only known Banner for about an hour it was plain that this apartment had ‘him’ written all over it.

I hadn’t even noticed that since he let me in he hadn’t spoken a word. So, to be polite, I stopped twirling around, looking at everything, and faced him. He was standing by the coffee table with his hands clasped in front of his upper stomach and he had a light smile to his lips.

“You’re smiling.” He said 

_Me?_

“So are you…” I retorted stubbornly

He chuckled shortly and ducked his head, “I was just amused at your reaction to my house. It’s the most slapped together thing I have ever seen and I am apprehensive to bring anyone here. Especially you. Which reminds me…”

“Ah, why I'm here…right.”

“And what happened in the alley.” He said in an almost-whisper

I nodded. How was going to do this? I didn’t want to lie but telling him the truth would be hard. On top of all of that I still didn’t completely trust him.

I had hoped SHIELD wouldn’t have put me in a situation with an immoral man- like a rapist. 

At least I hoped…


	9. Chapter 9

“What’s wrong?” he asked stepping closer, squinting through his glasses.

I hadn’t noticed that I had been standing in the middle of his living room saying or doing nothing. Previously I had been thinking of whether or not I could trust him- whether or not he was vicious with women.

So you can understand when I gasped and backed up as he approached.

“Whoa, whoa. What happened? Are you alright?” Banner asked with his hands raised.

“Yeah. I…I was just thinking how I didn’t really think this out before I came here…”

“What do you mean?”

“I don’t know what kind of person you are. Whether or not you are a dangerous person or not.”

He smirked, “I am though…”

I weakly smiled back at him, trying to lighten the awkwardness, “No, no, I mean like criminally dangerous.”

“Well I am not like a vagrant or anything but I stole a sandwich once as a teenager."

“I wasn’t thinking about that those kind of crimes…” I whispered my head towards the floor.

He was silent for a good two minutes, which in the scheme of things, is a long time. I couldn’t tell whether he was angry with me or not- if he was I would understand, I had just accused him of being something akin to a rapist or molester. I could see how that might upset someone.

He moved back towards his original position- to give me space, and I looked up puzzled. Wasn’t he mad?

“I don’t want to make you feel uncomfortable. If you want to leave that’s fine but I just want to let you know that I would never put my hands on a women like that. Ever. My mother would have killed me.” 

I smiled and looked up at him to read his eyes for his truthfulness. Sure enough it was there, blazing in deep pools of chocolate. His eyes matched mine in color but I found his alluring, unlike mine, which I always found dull as I stared at them in mirrors.

My eyes moved up to his slightly curled hair that was greying in places but stayed dark brown in others. Normally this would signify aging and would be unattractive, but I found it added character. After studying his hair I knew it was only a matter of time before my gaze fell to his lips and chin.

His lips were full, in a masculine way, and had a natural rose tint to them. They drew you in, almost as much as his eyes, and you couldn’t look away easily.

Why had I never noticed how attractive he was? Was I just too scared to tell?

Whatever the reason was I wish I had never took notice. Now it was going to be harder than ever to complete this mission.


	10. Chapter 10

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is the end of the 10 chapters that I had written prior to taking a break about five or so years ago. I might come back to it one day.

“I thought that Shield would have told you if I was a person you would have to worry about or not…”

I froze.

“How did you…?”

“I saw the eagle emblem in the dirt after you stepped by me”

“Wha…?” I looked down and bent my leg to look at my heel. Low and behold, there, centered in the middle of the rubber tracking on the shoe, there was an eagle with a plate in the middle of its chest, donning the American stars and stripes.

He laughed and I later joined in. As the evening progressed we had moved to the threadbare couch and chair with the coffee table dividing us. We talked about my reason for being there and how this month was supposed to work.

I explained to him that this was quite abrupt and that I was sorry. The original plan was to meet up with him about a week from now- not on the first day.

“This was definitely not the way I wanted this to go.” I said as I frowned a bit

“I'm actually glad it did for a, couple reasons…first of all, I probably would have leveled this town or I should say ‘the other guy’ would have. And… I like having met you sooner rather than later.” Banner looked down, embarrassed for admitting it out loud.

“Really? Why?”

He took a deep breath, “Because, as we have been talking we have burned through a million subjects and they have all been fascinating, I haven’t had that in a long time and I have been missing some human contact with people who I can relate to." 

I was flattered but still confused, “How can you relate to me? I am no genius or a doctor. I am just a girl who has been thrust into this kind of agent-y life against her will.”

He tilted his head, “Do you wanna elaborate a bit…?”

Even though I had only known Banner for a few hours and I was _way_ past the point of ‘letting it get personal’, I figured I could tell him. We were friends after all.

So, taking a deep breath I let loose my tale of how I came to be ‘Raven’.

“I was born in Chicago about 19 years ago. My parents apparently didn’t want me so they just left. They just… left. I guess, according to Fury, I was put up for adoption. I would have just been raised like a normal adopted orphan if something that the government worked out, where they measure a person’s genes based on their parents, didn’t make me eligible for a program. They ran some tests and I made the cut. It was purely coincidence that I was shipped out to Shield. From there, their recruiters and trainers took care of me. That didn’t really work out though…."

“How so?” Banner whispered, feeling for me. 

“I don’t really know. Fury said the training didn’t take or something. I suppose it had something to do with my gift. Every time they wanted me to do something I didn’t want to do I would make them change their minds by forcing them to feel indifference towards my training. Eventually it became so bad they just stopped and treated me as a regular kid. I kinda became the entire organization’s child. So I have a lot of adopted brothers, sisters, fathers, and mothers.” I finished with a smile.

“You have a gift? Is that what you used on me in the alley?”

I frowned again, “No. I don’t know what that was that calmed the other guy down.”

He frowned too and wringed his hands, leaning his forearms onto his knees.

Suddenly the weight of the day came crashing down on me and I yawned, my eyes lidding slightly. 

“I am so sorry. I didn’t mean to keep you this late. I just figured it was better than talking out there in the alley.”

“Yes. I really didn’t want a repeat of _that_.”

He sat there and looked at me, studying me the same way I had earlier. I wonder if he liked anything he- STOP THAT.

Stop-just stop. This is nonsense. Of course he doesn’t find anything he likes. Your 18 going on 19 and he is 44. He probably is just looking at you like a father would his daughter.

“Come on.” He said standing up from his chair, “I will walk you back. But, your going to haft to help me find it…”

I smiled up at him, “I think I remember…”

Soon we were back out of his apartment and I found myself missing the comforting feel of the couch and the overall smell of the air that was trapped inside his home. I found though, that the smell was easily found again on Dr. Banner but I couldn’t just ask him if I could sniff him on the way back to my home.

In the streets and paths there were a lot of stray dogs roaming around. A few growled but others just moped past.

As we saw these creatures I never once felt threatened, for some reason I felt safe because of Dr. Banner’s presence and I knew it wasn’t just because of the potential for the Hulk to save me. I knew that Banner would as well. 

In a matter of minutes and words we had become good friends and I was looking forward to knowing more about him and him of me. It was a strange feeling that I had never had before but I found the need to embrace it.

Hopefully all these decisions wouldn’t come to blow up in my face. And/or Dr. Banner’s.

It wasn’t long before I had led him to the little outhouse and we had come to a stop in front of it.

He raised his eyebrow at me indicating how strange this was, “Shield set you up with this? How do you even fit?”

“When you press this little button inside part of the floor drops down and it does so top secret stuff. The living space is underground.”

“Oh…thank God. I was about to offer that you stay at my place instead…”

I laughed at his humor, “Maybe I shouldn’t have told you…”

Oh God…why did you say that!

“Really?” he asked, turning to me with his hands in his pocket and a huge smile across his face.

“Yeah…I mean I like your apartment. A lot more than my boring little set up down there and I trust you now.”

He stayed silent for awhile more before realizing the time, “Well, I should let you get some rest but I will keep what you said in mind.”

He started walking backwards, back towards the town and I watched him as he teasingly walked.

“By the way, as good as friends as you and I are now, I still didn’t know your name.” he shouted from a distance. 

“Magnea Williams.”

He paused, and laughed again, looking down, “Well Magnea, I'm Bruce.”


End file.
